So, this is my first one shot. I think the ending needed a little work, but i didn't really feel like doing that, so.. here it is! let me know what you think =)
It was the last day of school. The last eight hours I would get to spend with him. He and his brothers were working on creating a record, and to do that, they would be gone all summer. Me and him, we were like mirror replicas of each other. We were always bouncing off the walls, getting into trouble in class, not really caring what others thought. But we had our differences. He was always getting picked on, and I was the popular girl in school. The guys were the ones who bullied him, but he was always the ladies’ favorite. Me, on the other hand- I was hated by half of the female school population. I guess that comes with being known. I had never hurt anyone, never bullied or teased a soul, but it seems that when the guys like you, the girls hate you. It didn’t matter though; I didn’t like those guys. I liked him.
I always had courage to do whatever I wanted, but when it came to Joe, I couldn’t seem to say what I felt. I had always told myself that I would do it tomorrow, or call him tonight, or tell him when we hung out this weekend. But I never did. Eventually I ran out of weekends, I ran out of nights, I ran out of tomorrows. He still didn’t have any clue as to how I felt about him. The night before the very last day of school, I wrote him a note telling him how I felt. It contained the day I started liking him, why I liked him, why I couldn’t tell him… but that didn’t seem to cut it for me. No matter how long I wrote, it still meant nothing. So I wrote down six simple words and a question mark.
My alarm rang the next morning, and instead of lying there like I usually did, I sprang out of bed. I quickly ate my breakfast, paying no attention to it, then ran back upstairs to get ready for school. I was all set in no time. When I was ready, I stored the note in my back pocket, knowing it wouldn’t be there for long. My dad drove me to school, without me saying a word except for ‘good morning’ and ‘bye!’ I raced to the lockers and searched for him. I didn’t see him, so I went to first period.
He wasn’t there.
That happened all day. I expected to see him, and then I was disappointed. While everyone else was so excited about not having any more school and finally having summer off, I wasn’t. This summer would be complete hell… I blew it.
My dad picked me up with my back pocket still occupied and my mind numb. All I could think about was not giving the note to Joe. I knew that they were leaving when school ended; they probably just changed their mind and left this morning. It’s not like the last day of school mattered, nothing happened.
I couldn’t go inside when we got home, so I took a walk. I felt the need to take a left, to walk to the pond. I used to go there a lot when I was little, when my friends would always want to go exploring. I hadn’t been there in a year. I got to the pond and saw a familiar figure. Right there in front of me, sitting on a bench, was Joe.
My heart fluttered and skipped a beat. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the note. This was what I had been waiting for, this was it! I wasn’t about to miss another opportunity, so I walked up to him right as his mother called him.
“Joe, wait! I know you have to go, but before you do, take this.” I handed him the note, and when he opened his mouth, his mother called him again.
“I have to go, but I’ll write back, I promise.” I nodded as he said this and watched him walk off.
That was twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, when I still had hope. I still had friends, I still had myself. That was when I thought things could actually be okay.
But things change, and so did I. Joe, keeping his promise, wrote me back. It wasn’t what I wanted, though, because he said we could never work out. He and his brothers got picked up by a record label, and the rest was history.
I bought every album they ever made. I went to concerts when I could. We used to talk during their concerts, but that was before they became Disney. I was shocked when I heard one of their songs, “Please Be Mine.” I didn’t know who it was about, but I didn’t want to know. He got a new girlfriend around the same time they made that song, and that’s when I stopped trying.
I forgot about him, and over the course of about five years after their last record, so did everyone else. I had been married, and then divorced, because I never really knew how to love. I lost my faith, not just because of one boy, but because of other boys. I never gave anybody much of a chance. I focused on my career- owning a café. That’s what mattered to me.
I was at work on a regular day, not expecting much to happen. I heard the normal clink of the door opening, but I didn’t bother to turn around. I was busying myself with brewing coffee and making sure the interns weren’t burning the kitchens down back there. I was fluttering around as usual, not stopping for anything. When I finally distracted myself from my work, however, I couldn’t go back to it. What I saw made me freeze.
So here I was, a thirty four year old woman in her own café, unable to move because of a single presence. It was a boy who couldn’t be older than six years old. He was so precious, with full lips and hair that shone in the light. He looked remarkably like Joe.
I stared at him, and he stared back. Eventually, he broke my gaze and hopped up on a barstool. “Can I help you?” I asked. He nodded. “My daddy told me to look for the owner of this place. Do you know her? I think it’s urchin.” I laughed at his attempt to say the word ‘urgent’. “That would be me. Who’s your father?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you, silly, this is a game. Follow me!” And with that, he leaped off his stool and started walking towards the door. I told him to wait and told the co-owner that I would be back soon. We walked hand-in-hand out the door and continued to for about five minutes.
“Honey, where are we going? We’re leaving the city…” “I know,” he replied. “I’m taking you to the park.”
My hand fell from his. The park? I visited it a lot more now, thinking about the old days and how I would never get them back. He turned to me. “Come on!”
Speechless, I kept walking. Who was this kid, or more importantly, who’s? I got an eerie feeling that it might really be… No. I told myself. I would have heard if he had a son. Granted, it would have been a while ago, but still, I would have known.
We got to the park, and for the first time in twenty years, I saw him. Sitting on that same bench, in the same position, was Joe. Joseph Adam Jonas, back in my park after two decades.
The boy ran up to him. “Daddy!” He cried out. “I got her! Can I get my ice cream cone now?” He asked. Joe laughed and gave him a couple dollar bills. The kid ran to the ice cream truck, leaving it to be just me and Joe.
I said hi and he smiled. I asked him how he was and how his life was going. He shook his head. “Pretty bad,” he said. “I just got out of a ten year marriage. Divorce is brutal, I can’t even start to explain it.”
“I would know,” I replied. He looked at my ring finger and nodded. Hesitantly, he pulled out a yellowed piece of crinkled paper. “I’ve been coming to your café everyday for over a week. I hadn’t gotten the courage to say hi, so I’ve just been watching. You’ve really gotten beautiful over the years,” He said. I cast my gaze down. He handed me the paper.
I lost my breath. It was the simple note I had written to him on the eve of the last day of school. He had kept it all these years! I looked up at him and glanced into his eyes. They were full of sorrow and need. “Yes or no? I understand if you would say no after all these years. I was just wondering if I could ask you what you asked me.” His voice was husky and whispered. I nodded and a smile crept onto my face as I reread the note one last time. Those six words were all it took… I love you. Please be mine?
